Yes You Can - Fourth Edition - 150

The key to success in traveling is good planning. Develop a travel plan that covers all aspects of your personal needs: comfortable clothing, time requirements, bowel and bladder scheduling, meals, transfer techniques and tools, who might need information from you [like airline or train personnel], and access to medication. Make your travel plan part of your trip. displace other passengers’ luggage already in the closet. You may want to keep your wheelchair cushion with you—it can help protect your skin during the ﬂight. Don’t forget to do pressure releases during the ﬂight. Airlines are responsible for assisting you in boarding and deplaning, helping you make connecting ﬂights, and returning your mobility equipment to you in the same condition that you released it to them. If you’re unable to walk, you usually will board the plane using an aisle chair, a narrow wheeled chair that airline personnel can maneuver down an airplane aisle. Half the aisle seats on new planes must have movable armrests in order to make transfers to and from the seat easier; in older planes, you may have to transfer over an armrest. Be assertive in asking for assistance and telling airline personnel how to help you. If you can’t evacuate the plane in an emergency, you must bring [and pay for] an assistant. If the airline thinks you need such assistance but you disagree, the airline will pay for an assistant, but it may choose the person, perhaps an airline employee. That person is responsible for assisting only in the event of evacuation. If you do travel with an assistant, the airline must seat you next to each other on the plane. Airline personnel will not provide personal assistance on the plane. They’ll help with boarding, stowing luggage, and helping you get to and from the bathroom. They won’t assist in the bathroom or with eating. Public Transportation For getting around town, many public transit vehicles are now wheelchair accessible. The ADA requires new transit buses to be wheelchair accessible and have at least two spaces for wheelchairs. Call your transit system to see if it’s fully accessible; if not, it may accommodate you by putting an accessible vehicle on your route. Paratransit services [accessible vans or small buses] are used when conventional public transit vehicles don’t meet the needs of disabled persons. If you’re eligible for paratransit in your hometown, other cities must honor that eligibility when you visit—but be sure to notify them of the dates of your travel, and check for any restrictions. Project ACTION maintains an updated website [http:// projectaction.easterseals.com] about accessible public transportation in many locations around the United States. Taxis are not required to be accessible under the ADA, but accessible cabs are available in many cities. Check the Project ACTION website or your local chamber of commerce. Air Travel Discrimination on the basis of disability is prohibited under the Air Carrier Access Act. Carriers must have policies and training programs to ensure that airline personnel know what is required. For example, a passenger who preboards and has a foldable wheelchair may stow the wheelchair in an onboard closet if it doesn’t Trains Amtrak has a special discount program for rail passengers with disabilities. Amtrak personnel will help with boarding, information, and at-seat services, such as delivering meals, stowing luggage, and helping you get to and from the bathroom. [ 150 ] | Yes, You Can!

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Yes You Can - Fourth Edition

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Yes You Can - Fourth Edition